Year in review: Curling

Norm Cowley, Edmonton Journal12.31.2012

Canada skip Heather Nedohin makes a face behind Scotland skip Eve Muirhead as she jokes during a practice session at the Ford world women’s curling championship at Lethbridge in March 2012.Andrew Vaughan
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

From left, coach Darryl Horne, Heather Nedohin, Laine Peters, Jessica Mair and Beth Iskiw ham it up with the trophy after winning the Alberta women’s curling championship at the Leduc Curling Club on Jan. 29, 2012.Rick MacWilliam

EDMONTON - At the time, Heather Nedohin didn’t understand the significance of winning the 2012 Canadian women’s curling championship.

Sure, it had been 12 years since she played in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and 14 years since she won it as the third for Cathy Borst (King).

But that was personal.

On a much larger scale, only two Edmonton rinks have won a Canadian women’s championship in the last 44 years, and Nedohin played on both of them. Since Hazel Jamieson and Gail Lee teamed up to beat the nation in 1966 and ’68, the only Alberta teams to win until Borst accomplished the feat in 1998 were Lethbridge’s Myrna MacQuarrie in 1977 and Calgary’s Susan Seitz in 1981.

“It shocked me,” admitted Nedohin, who thought elite skips like Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink and Cheryl Bernard would have won somewhere along the way.

“But, ho hum, they represent Canada and go to the Olympics. Shannon and Cheryl have silver and bronze at the Olympics. Unfortunately, there’s been no gold for all of us.”

Nedohin won a bronze medal at the 2012 world championship, while Bernard lost the 2010 Olympic final at Vancouver and Kleibrink got bronze at Turin, Italy, in 2006. Kleibrink also lost Olympic Trials finals to Sandra Schmirler in 1997 and to Bernard in 2009, as well as the Scotties final in 2008.

Nedohin’s Saville Centre rink of Beth Iskiw, Jessica Mair and Laine Peters lost the 2011 provincial final to Kleibrink, but was overlooked going into last season’s championship. They were seeded fifth by their peers.

“We felt confident, but others didn’t feel confident in us,” said Nedohin, who added longtime coach Daryl Horne to the mix last year.

The provincials had a loaded field; at least eight teams had a legitimate chance to win. Nedohin qualified for the playoffs out of the B Event, lost the Page Playoff 1-2 game to Jessie Kaufman, scored each of the last three ends to edge Crystal Webster 6-5 in 11 ends in the semifinal, and then downed Kaufman in the final.

“Yes, your stars need to be aligned and everything, but we went in feeling confident and we got some breaks,” said Nedohin. “We had two measurements go our way.”

The breaks also went Nedohin’s way at the Canadian championship, the key one winning a last-rock measurement by millimetres in an extra end against Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones in the semifinal.

“It’s interesting. When you reflect back, there is a shot or two or a measure that can make or break your season. If you look at the seasons prior, where Beth and I lost (two) provincial finals, we lost by millimetres, as well,” Nedohin said. “It’s a blessing that it all happened last year when your first step is in Leduc (provincials) and your next step is in Red Deer (Canadians) and your final step is in Lethbridge (worlds). That’s really cool for an Alberta team.”

Nedohin finished the Scotties round-robin tied for third with Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche at 7-4, then won three straight playoff games at the Enmax Centre, including the final 7-6 over British Columbia’s Kelly Scott. But she was excited all week, with the crowd getting caught up with her many facial gestures and broom pumps through the highs and lows of each game.

“That’s the way our team rolls,” Nedohin said. “We have fun all the time. Some people might think we’re a team that’s constantly — maybe they view it as bickering — but we’re just constantly chattering and laughing.

“We all recognize that once you make it to what we like to call, ‘The Big Show,’ the Scotties, it truly is a feat of its own just getting out of the province. You’ve got to enjoy it through the good and the bad and the craziness that can happen on the ice, or in the crowd, at any moment.”

In Lethbridge, Nedohin got off to a good start in her bid to become the first Alberta women’s rink to win a world championship, but lost her last two round-robin games to finish 7-4. She had to beat the U.S. in a tiebreaker to get into the playoffs, then lost the Page 3-4 game to South Korea.

“It was very emotional for us to lose that 3-4 game, but it was also very emotional to win the bronze, as well,” she said. “We wanted to medal, especially at home.”

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